This article was co-authored by Michele Dolan. Michele Dolan is a BCRPA certified Personal Trainer in British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002.

There are 17 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

If you're looking for a way to strengthen your abdominal muscles, crunches are an easy, effective option. They're a lot like sit-ups, but instead of lifting your entire back off the floor, you only lift your upper back. This reduces your injury risk, and targets your abs without engaging your hip muscles. Once you learn how to do basic crunches, round out your ab workout with reverse crunches, bicycle crunches, and other variations.

Steps

Method1

Doing a Basic Crunch

1

Lie on your back on an exercise mat. Using a mat, thick towel, or carpeted surface is more comfortable than lying on a hard, bare floor.[1]

To broaden your workout and engage your entire core, you could also do crunches on a stability ball.[2]

Bend your knees so your feet are flat on the floor. Your knees and feet should be about hip-width apart. Position your feet so your heels are about 12 to 18 in (30 to 46 cm) from your tailbone.[3]

3

Cross your arms in front of your chest. You could also place your fingertips behind your neck or head if it feels more comfortable. Just be sure not to tug your head or neck up as you perform a crunch.[4]

Tugging your head or neck can strain your back. To skip this risk altogether, cross your arms over your chest.

For increased resistance, you could hold a 5 to 10 pounds (2.3 to 4.5 kg) plate weight over your chest.

If you place your hands behind your head or neck, keep your elbows bent, extended to your sides, and level with your ears. Letting your arms close in around your head encourages your head to tilt forward.

4

Lift your shoulder blades off of the mat with a smooth, controlled motion. Inhale, then exhale as you engage your ab muscles and raise your torso. Lift yourself just enough to raise your shoulder blades off of the floor. Once your shoulders are raised, pause and hold that position for 1 to 2 seconds.[5]

Lifting your entire torso off of the floor can cause lower back strain. Furthermore, your hip flexors take over when you sit up all the way. A crunch targets the abs more effectively than a full sit-up.

Your lower back, tailbone, and feet should maintain contact with the mat at all times.

Keep your neck relaxed instead of tucking in your chin. Try to keep an apple-sized space between your chin and your chest. Looking at the ceiling can help keep you from curling your neck too much.[6]

5

Lower yourself back down with a slow, steady motion. Gently inhale as you slowly lower your torso. Don't just drop back down to the mat. Using smooth, controlled motions work your ab muscles more effectively and help prevent injury.[7]

After lowering your upper body to the mat, pause for a moment before you do another crunch. If you rush into the next rep, you’ll end up using momentum to lift yourself instead of your muscles. Rushed movements can also lead to back injuries.[8]

Try doing a set of 12 crunches. For a full ab workout, you could do 3 sets of 12 standard crunches, 3 sets of reverse crunches, and 3 sets of bicycle or side crunches.

MD

Michele Dolan

Certified Personal Trainer

Michele Dolan is a BCRPA certified Personal Trainer in British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002.

MD

EXPERT ADVICE

Michele Dolan, a certified personal trainer, recommends: "Exhale as you curl forward and inhale as you lower your torso back down."

Method2

Doing a Reverse Crunch

1

Lie on your back with your arms by your sides. Start by lying on your exercise mat or towel with your palms facing down. For extra support, you could stretch out your arms to each side (so you look like the letter “T”) instead of positioning them close to your body.[9]

Whether your arms are stretched out or close to your body, your palms should be flat on the floor.

2

Raise your legs to bring your knees over your hips. Inhale, then exhale as you contract your ab muscles and lift your feet off of the floor. Bend your knees at 90 degree angles, and hold them directly over your hips.[10]

Remember to use smooth, controlled motions. Use your arms to keep your balance and maintain control.

3

Lift your hips and tailbone off of the mat. Inhale, then exhale as you slowly raise your hips. Bring your knees toward your head, and keep them bent at 90 degree angles. Once your tailbone is off of the floor, hold the position for 1 to 2 seconds.[11]

Your head, upper torso, and arms should maintain contact with the floor. Use your arms to balance, but don’t use them to power your lift. Focus on letting your core muscles do the work.

4

Lower your hips to the floor with a controlled motion. Inhale as you slowly and smoothly bring your hips back to the floor. Keep your knees bent at 90 degree angles, and position them directly over your hips. Pause in this position for a moment, then lift your hips again to perform another rep.[12]

Repeat the steps to complete a set of 12 reverse crunches. After you’ve finished the last rep, slowly lower your feet back to the floor.

Method3

Trying Other Variations

1

Target your obliques with side crunches. Lie on your back with your knees bent, then lower both legs to the mat on your left side. Place your hands over your chest or behind your head, then raise your upper back off of the mat using the same techniques as a regular crunch.[13]

Do 12 crunches with your legs lowered to the left, then repeat the steps to do another set on your right side.

2

Try overhead crunches to increase difficulty. Start on your back with your knees bent, and stretch out your arms straight above your head (so you look like the letter “I”). Keep your arms extended as you raise your upper back using the same techniques as a standard crunch.[14]

Extending your arms adds more resistance and makes your abs work harder. For an even greater challenge, you could hold a plate weight or kettlebell in your hands.[15]

3

Add bicycle crunches to your ab workout. Start on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Raise your left leg toward your chest, and extend your right leg straight, as if you were pedaling a bike. Place your fingertips behind your head, lift your upper back off of the mat, and rotate your torso to bring your right elbow toward your left knee.[16]

Then, straighten your left leg as you drive your right knee toward your chest. At the same time, rotate your torso to bring your left elbow toward your right knee.

Continue to pedal and rotate to complete 12 reps for each side.

Remember to use smooth, slow motions, and don’t yank your head or neck with your hands.

Although it is unlikely in a healthy person to herniate a disc using the force of just your own body weight, this exercise is to be avoided if there are any concerns about herniating a disc. This exercise will very likely aggravate a herniated disc.

Not by just doing that alone. Crunches help develop the muscles, but you also need to take care of your diet as well as burn fat for which cardio exercise is the best option. To some degree, doing crunches will help, because the more muscle mass you have, the higher your energy consumption is at resting state.

It is not necessary to do them daily, since diet is key. Everyone has abs underneath the fat. It's simply about burning fat the quickest in that amount of time. Diet and high intensity cardio for two weeks will be your best bet. Do ab workouts maybe three times a week the most. Otherwise you won't allow for enough time for the muscle to fully recover and develop anyway.

Eat well, eat healthily and regularly. Drink lots of water. Do cardio training. Also, sleep well, it's a key factor in building a healthy body. To get the V shape, go swimming more often and do lots of lateral crunches.

To do a crunch, start by lying on the floor with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground. Then, cross your arms over your chest. When you're ready, lift your shoulders off the mat while contracting your abs and exhaling. Hold this pose for 1-2 seconds, then inhale and slowly lower back down. Relax your abdominal muscles and repeat. For variations of crunches that work different muscles, read on!

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FEATURED ARTICLE

This article was co-authored by Michele Dolan. Michele Dolan is a BCRPA certified Personal Trainer in British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002.